Senior Congress leader and six-time MLA Suresh Routray on Thursday made a surprise announcement about his retirement from electoral politics and said he will not contest elections in the future.
Addressing the media in Bhubaneswar, the senior Congress leader said his son Manmath Routray will now contest the elections from Jatani.
"I will not contest elections anymore. However, my youngest son Manmath Routray will contest from Jatani on Congress ticket," Routray said.
“I am born Congress. Neither, I have compromised my loyalty with the party in my 55 years career nor used the party for my personal gain. I have worked honestly for the party and will continue to do so,” he added.
When asked about his meeting with CM Naveen Patnaik, the Congress leader said it was a courtesy meeting.
"My son Sidharth brought laurels to the State by scaling high-altitude peaks. I went to meet the CM to share my son’s success story. Both CM Naveen and 5T secretary were happy to learn about my son’s success," Routray said.
“It was a courtesy meeting. No political discussions were made during my meeting with the Chief Minister,” he added.
The veteran leader was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly six times from Jatani constituency. In 1977, he won the constituency on a Janata Party ticket. Later, he represented the constituency in 1980, 1985, 1995, 2000 and 2019 as a Congress candidate.
(Reported by Soumya Ranjan Sahoo, OTV)